#romance girl vs depressed gay boy fight | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bambazzle · 3 years

Text

LGBT+ Fantasy/Fiction Books and TWs

1. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell-

(Fantasy, Witches, Vampires, kind of Harry Potter-y, Romance, TW for mention of suicidal ideation/self-destructiveness, abandonment, foster care, neglect, murder/violence, gun violence and relationship issues in the second book. It has some heavy topics but is written in a pretty light tone.)

2. Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston-

(enemies to lovers, about the son of the President and the Prince of England getting into a fight, they have to fake a friendship to fix their PR situation, TW for being publicly outed and semi-graphic sex scenes, also often politically charged discussions)

3. Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller-

(Ancient Greece, demigods, exile, TW for war/violence and tragedy, homophobia, bad parenting)

4. The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic-

(It’s about the mafia/college sports and happens to have a compelling queer storyline in the process. Demisexual main character and other gay characters. (slow burn, it’s a trilogy and the romance doesn’t happen in the first book) TW for a lot of things, it’s about kids from broken homes and the mafia so there is abuse, self harm, murder, police intervention, organized crime, drug use, assault, rehab, all kinds of weapons, manipulation, slurs, etc. The second book has mentions of r*pe (not extremely graphic but it is mentioned a handful of times and there is one semi graphic scene), and torture. It is a great series but it has heavy content and is not light reading if you go in unprepared.)

5. The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune -

(MLM, fantasy, found family, heartwarming romance, magical creatures)

6. Heartstopper by Alice Oseman-

(MLM, graphic novel, slow burn, coming out TW for anorexia, self harm, suicidal ideation, homophobia)

7. The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater-

(Fantasy, about a secret private school, slow burn)

8. They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera-

(Bisexual Latino characters, whole story takes place in 24 hours because at about midnight- aka the start of the book- they get a phone call saying they’re gonna die, TW for death, family in hospital, violence, police intervention, and foster care)

9. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo-

(queer characters (but no romance in the first book, TW for graphic depictions of violence, ableism, mention of abuse, mention of sexual slavery and assault, imprisonment)

10. The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (Historical Fiction Romance, Travel/Journey, Best Friends to lovers, MLM characters. TW for abuse, homophobia, racism, suicidal ideation, alcoholism, depiction of epileptic seizures, gun violence, and discussion of insane asylums)

11. In Deeper Waters by FT Lukens-

(Royalty, kidnapping, MLM characters not being released until April but it looks great)

12. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz-

(coming of age story, MLM, TW for violence/injury, surgery, transmisogyny, homophobic violence)

14. We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra-

(coming of age, friendship and romance)

15. Love and Other Curses by Michael Thomas Ford-

(magical realism, a curse about falling in love)

16. More Happy than Not by Adam Silvera-

(MLM main character, YA, “it's about a boy who is considering a memory-alteration procedure to forget he's gay because leading a life as a straight teen would probably be way easier for him. It's about science versus nature, friendship, sexuality, and a quest for happiness.” About the happy ending and how even bad moments lead to good. Hopeful but despairing. TW for medical procedure to erase sexuality, internalized homophobia, homophobia from others, depression)

17. I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver-

(Nonbinary main character, nonbinary muslim side character, romance/love and building a family out of people you care about. About finding your voice. TW for coming out and misgendering, family rejection/struggle)

18. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour-

(WLW, moving out and coming of age, self-discovery and childhood romance, TW for loss, depression, loneliness)

19. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness-

(Contemporary, about the normal people’s lives while living among Chosen Ones. Family/coming of age/acceptance story. TW for monsters, apocalypse, violence/explosions, anorexia, anxiety attacks, unrequited romance)

20. Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz-

(Dystopian story about a teenager struggling with their gender identity, TW for abandonment, oppressive government, outlawed homosexuality)

21. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas-

(trans main character, hispanic characters, paranormal YA mystery with MLM characters)

22. Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat-

(Bisexual main character, TW for kidnapping/stockholm syndrome, abuse, sex scenes)

23. Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey-

(fantasy, MLM, supernatural)

24. Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda by Becki Albertalli-

(romance, MLM, coming of age, TW for a closeted boy being blackmailed)

25. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel-

(WLW, graphic novel, coming of age, TW for csa, pedophilia, teacher/student relationships, none explicit if my memory serves correct)

26. George by Alex Gino-

(Trans girl, slice of life, coming out story, TW for deadnaming, homophobia, transphobia)

27. Afterworlds by Scott Westerfield-

(WLW, supernatural, fantasy)

28. Witchmark by C.L. Polk-

(MLM, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, mystery, Alternate universe post WW1, TW for murder/war, depression/angst)

29. The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling-

(WLW, Sci-Fi Horror, dystopian future, fictional planet, TW for psychological/emotional horror, toxic relationship, death)

30. The Culling by Steven Dos Santos-

(MLM, Dystopian Fantasy under a totalitarian, extremely cruel government. People must undergo ‘the trials’ in order to work for a government task force- if you fail at any of the trials you are forced to participate in the Culling, where the member has to choose a family member of theirs to die. TW for death, extortion, brutal violence, murder, totalitarian government)

31. Deposing Nathan by Zack Smedley-

(MLM, about a court case regarding the main character and his best friend- deals with breaking points in friendships and how people and perception change. TW for biphobia, gay bashing, legal trial, abuse, knives, violence)

32. Ziggy, Stardust, and Me by James Brandon-

(MLM, Gay main character, historical fiction (Vietnam war), about a character dealing with his alcoholic father and family issues who creates a fictional world to cope where he can be out and openly himself. Coming of age. TW for bullying, alcoholism, institutionalized homophobia, familial homophobia, conversion therapy, war mentions)

(this list is a WIP and anyone can add to it! If I need to add TWs or further explanations let me know!)

6K notes · View notes

professorxsmokesweed · 3 years

Text

okay just finished dofp rewatch here are my thoughts i jotted down as i watched the movie

>charles erik raven logan and peter carry this movie cause otherwise this stupid liberal plot would suck so bad. instead its gay cinema

>erik: relying on young us is…..

charles: im sure it will be fine!

narrator: it was not fine

>logan is HILARIOUS

>crying and wailing over raven baby girl i love you so much

>ignoring the alex in vietnam. i dont fucking care he didnt fight in vietnam goodbye charles is rich as fuck alex used his money to dodge the draft and is spending this movie looking for scott. he sees everything on the news two weeks later like “Hey Whats Going On?”

>i feel so bad for hank in this movie in first class i always lowkey wanna bully him but in this movie hes my annoying little brother

>CHARLES DEPRESSED ERA MY BELOVED i just really love this part of his arc its so important to me to see him hit a low point and then recover from it ;_;

>peter my beloved!!!! baby boy just wants to break into the pentagon he doesnt even question it!!!!

>erik baby im so sorry solitary happened to you and all your friends got murdered my poor little meow meow

>RAVEN IS LIKE THE WORLDS SHITTIEST ASSASSIN IM SORRY IT MUST BE SAID SHE REALLY TRIED HER BEST THO SHE ALMOST DID IT

>gonna cry over charles comforting raven THATS HIS BABY SISSSTTTEERRR HE LOVES HE SO FUCKING MUCH AND SHE STILL LOVES HIM TOO

>okay i 100% believe erik would try and kill raven to prevent a holocaust he’d kill just about anyone to prevent that but you cannot expect me to believe that he didn’t also try to kill trask aka the dude responsible for killing raven and building the murder machines in my mind he tries to merk trask with raven -> things still go to shit -> he goes welp that didnt work and trask is in the wind. sorry raven but you’ve gotta go -> things go even more to shit and raven and erik both split off again

>anyways at least he knows he fucked up hes so stupid but at least his apologies are genuine

>SHES HER OWN PERSON ERIK SHUT UP

>erik raven wlw mlm besties the movies can keep trying to imply romance all they want i will keep ignoring it

>“yes. she does.” CRYING WAILING SCREAMING AGAIN

>CHARLES XAVIER MY BELOVED I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND YOU’RE SO GOOD IN THIS MOVIE watching him recover and heal and grow is so important to me and makes me cry the hope scene…. the hope scene….. fanon charles YOU ARE NOTHING compared to actual canon movie charles

>erik you’re so hot please lavender marriage me i’ll treat you right i promise

>i dont give a shit about the “no killing” scene w/trask sorrrryyy the only good part is charles asking raven to come home wheres the post about how the more radical villain randomly does off the wall shit to make the audience sympathize with the centerist protag i need that for this movie i cannot believe it ends with “and trask goes to jail! so everything’s fine except stryker but raven handles that dont worry!” like. ah yes, sending trask to jail. im sure that will solve everything. btw i love how the CIA is absolutely anti mutant in this movie but they can’t truly include that because then they would lose funding for the helicopters n shit

>ERIK ILY

>i love charles. i love charles. i love charles.

>old erik looks so distinguished in a cape while young erik looks dumb whats up with that

>erik and the stadium and having the robots blow up cop cars acab king he’s so funny i love watching him do property damage

>dropping the stadium on charles… :(

>i still dont give a shit about raven trying to kill trask let the girlboss girlboss it’s on trask and his people for trying to commit mass murder trying to blame her for the entire thing is ridiculous

>me crying over any scene with charles and raven vs thinking no killing plots are stupid: fight

>raven is allowed to do whatever she wants and i mean that more genuinely than i do with erik even like with him despite being my fave i only let him get away with like. 60% maybe 70% of the shit he pulls raven gets a solid 80-90%

>charles is so kind btw trying to kill my siblings is the one line you cannot cross if my on again off again girlfriend tried to kill my baby sister no matter the reason i would carve out her heart and eat it. i say this despite erik being my favorite character😭. i would kill him for that he is so lucky charles is the way he is

>GODDDDDDD THE ENDING. THE SCHOOL!!!!! THE SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!

#xmen dofp #x men days of future past #xmen #anyways i loved it #goooooddddddddd.#*insert the to me this is cinema* meme #in my mind apocalypse doesnt happen btw and neither does dark phoenix they all join up together again in like 6 months or something #gay people. gay people!!!#i really gotta start talking about charles and raven cause there is not enough content for the two of them and i love siblings in media

20 notes · View notes

toilonto649lore · 2 years

Text

Welcome to my blog of pain (jk)

Enzo (or Z/Charlie/River)

21, he/they, bi

White/tme

I love music and artsy gay movies and silly TV and animals and nature and the idea of being able to travel

I dislike bigotry, confrontation and capitalism

I struggle with depression and anxiety and possibly have at least one neurodivergency or personality disorder (not diagnosed but trying to see a therapist, suffice to say my brain is a mess)

My Interests

(Italics are what I'm currently fixating on)

TV:

Community

New Girl

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Arrested Development

Scrubs

Superstore

The Good Place

Santa Clarita Diet

Shameless

Jane the Virgin (haven't caught up)

The Fosters

Boy Meets World

The Office

Parks and Rec / Friends / That 70s Show / How I Met Your Mother (these are comfort shows of mine but I acknowledge they're all outdated and somewhat problematic/have a problematic cast)

Futurama

Disenchantment

Cowboy Bebop (sadly this is like the only anime I've really seen but I love it a lot)

Wolf's Rain (I lied I've also seen this)

The Legend of Korra

Criminal Minds

House, M.D.

Movies:

My Own Private Idaho

Kill Your Darlings

As You Are

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Donnie Darko

The Butterfly Effect

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Whiplash

Chronicle

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

The Breakfast Club

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Bill and Ted

We're the Millers

Horrible Bosses

Pulp Fiction

I have a soft spot for old Disney movies about animals (The Lion King, Oliver and Company, Fox and the Hound, things like Balto/Spirit)

Music:

Modest Mouse

Foxing

Los Campesinos!

MGMT

Passion Pit

Broken Social Scene

The Hotelier

Modern Baseball

PUP

Jeff Rosenstock

TTNG

Oso Oso

Motion City Soundtrack

Against Me!

Bayside

Title Fight

Coheed and Cambria

Manchester Orchestra

The Antlers

flatsound

Mansions

Mumblr

Fleece

Home is Where

Taking Back Sunday

Linkin Park

Paramore

Old Fall Out Boy (everything before AB/AP)

blink-182 (mostly for nostalgic reasons but the self titled and Neighborhoods still slap)

My Chemical Romance

Bloc Party

Rainbow Kitten Surprise

Death Cab for Cutie

Sufjan Stevens

Incubus

Third Eye Blind

Many, many more

Please talk to me about my interests, life is painful and media makes it more fun lol

#pinned post #abt me #finally made this #less annoying to figure out than a carrd lol

2 notes · View notes

writingwithcolor · 4 years

Text

Find your next diverse read! #2 (WWC Reader Publications)

We asked you to tell us about your publications, and here they are!

These are the eleven (11) books submitted to us, written by Writing With Color readers.

Book Titles

Always Darkest

Commonwealth

Faerie Rising: The First Book of Binding

Fate (The St. Cloud Chronicles)

A Hero’s Tale

Less than Three

Moonrise

Not So Stories Anthology

OPEN: A Tale of Love, Mermaids, Bassists, & Creepy Dudes

The Path to Dawn

To Whom it Doesn't Concern

Book Descriptions

Title: Always Darkest

Author: Jess and Keith Flaherty | @demonsrunlit Series: Yes Buy: Amazon Premise: Supernatural meets Good Omens with a dash of romance and divine chaos.‪ Ben wants a vacation away from Hell, but Mal reveals a path to redemption instead. ‬ On the run from Heaven and Hell, a demon becomes a hero. Themes/Elements: Dark Fantasy, Paranormal Romance MC Race/Ethnicity: White Other Characters: White Other Diversity: LQBTQAI+, Religion

Title: Commonwealth (Patreon series)

Author: Adam Lee Series: No Buy: Patreon Premise: In a near-future U.S. that’s become a hyper-capitalist dystopia of inequality and climate change, a small band of dreamers fight to bring back the vanished era when people worked together and helped each other. Themes/Elements: Individualism vs. mutuality, capitalism vs. socialism MC Race/Ethnicity: Biracial black/white Other Characters: Latino (Mexican), Jewish, Japanese/Chinese Other Diversity: Economic and environmental justice, sexism and pregnancy discrimination

Title: Faerie Rising: The First Book of Binding

Author: A. E. Lowan | @aelowan (multiple authors) Series: Yes Buy: Amazon Premise:

Winter Mulcahy is the last wizard in the city of Seahaven, WA and all that stands between the fractious preternatural population and total chaos. Holding the city together by the skin of her teeth, the blood of her friends, and an addiction to stimulants that is slowly killing her, the young wizard is approached by a pair of sidhe lords. They claim that her city is harboring a fugitive who has kidnapped a sidhe prince, and that they are on a mission to rescue the boy.

Winter must investigate this fugitive to get to the truth of the kidnapping, discover the cause of the surges of wild magic tearing open rifts between realms across her city, and navigate the deadly waters of preternatural politics before Seahaven both figuratively and literally rips itself apart.

Themes/Elements: Addiction, redemption, found families MC Race/Ethnicity: (multiple POVS)

Young black hero just coming into his powers

Teenage wizard who proves that weight won’t slow her down

Physician at the breaking point who is addicted to stimulants

Two bisexual men in a dance of attraction (one survivor of childhood sexual assault)

Young trans man who will play a larger role in the second book

Gay Viking vampire king and his lover.

Afro-Latina wolf queen

Afro-Latino Lion King

Title: FATE

Author: Jade Stewart | @j-a-stewart Series: Yes Buy: Amazon Premise: FATE is a YA fantasy novel about a teenage girl from the Bronx who realizes there’s more to her new home in Buffalo, and herself, than meets the eye. Themes/Elements: Urban fantasy, magic/wizards, werewolves, vampires, benefits of hard work, fate, moving to a new city, romance, revenge MC Race/Ethnicity: African-American Other Characters: Japanese, Jamaican-American and Romanian (mixed race), & American Other Diversity/Topics: Anti-bullying, high school, friendship

Title: A Hero’s Tale

Author: J. Stern | @theactualjstern Series: No Buy: Amazon Premise: Sam Garrett is determined to be a normal kid in spite of his superpowers, only to have his resolve questioned when his powers are exposed to the world and he becomes the target of a powered villain determined to remove all powered from the world. Themes/Elements: coming of age, superhero MC Race/Ethnicity: African American Other Characters: Black, mixed race Philipino and Mexican, Greek Other Diversity: queer characters of color (bisexual and trans), queer characters, disability (Deaf), mental illness (PTSD, anxiety), gender parity of characters

Title: Less than Three

Author: Téa Belog | @transannabeth Series: No Buy: Amazon | Books2Read | Goodreads Premise: Ren has been in love with his best friend for the past three years, Calliope has spent most of her life dancing, and Ingrid plans to start over in college, to go beyond what held her back in high school. Less Than Three is a collection of three short stories about a group of friends. Together, they shoulder their way through romance, all-nighters, and the occasional dragon. Themes/Elements: Romance, friendship, coming of age, mental illness, and college MC Race/Ethnicity: Japanese and Black (Calliope and Ingrid respectively, individual POVs) Other Characters: Indian, Vietnamese, and white Other Diversity: LGBTQIA+ (trans and nonbinary characters, gay characters), depression

Title: Moonrise (interactive novel)

Author: Natalie Cannon Series: No Buy: Choice of Games Premise: You’re here. You’re queer. You’re a werewolf. Who will you kiss under the moonlight? Themes/Elements: queer femme werewolves, fighting for humanity or giving into the beast, romance, aligning with the tradition of the Masquerade or breaking free with the desperate Rogues, found family MC Race/Ethnicity: Intentionally left up to player interpretation Other Characters: Black, Japanese, Mexican, Jewish Other Diversity: Lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, polyamorous, aromantic, trans, nonbinary gender options and/or characters. Amputee character. Mental illness mention

Title: Not So Stories Anthology

Author: Multiple authors of colour Series: No Buy: Goodreads Premise: Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories was a timeless classic. It is also deeply rooted in British colonialism. Not So Stories attempts to redress the balance, bringing together new and established writers of colour from around the world to take the Just So Stories back; giving voices to cultures that were long deprived them. Themes/Elements: Fantasy, ghost stories, fairy tales. MC Race/Ethnicity: Various Other Diversity: LGBTQIA+ characters

Title: OPEN: A Tale of Love, Mermaids, Bassists, & Creepy Dudes

Author: Emilie Nantel | @emilienantel Series: No Buy: Emilie Nantel Premise: A queer, polyamorous romcom for millennials, OPEN: A Tale of Love, Mermaids, Bassists, & Creepy Dudes is the story of Amy, bi, 25, in an open relationship, navigating the ups – dating gorgeous people – and downs – trying to avoid creeps – of the Montreal dating scene, when she falls in love with a hot bassist. This was not part of the plan. Themes/Elements: Queer found family, polyamorous relationship, friendship breakups MC Race/Ethnicity: White Other Characters: Black endgame love interest; half Filipina/half White best friend Other Diversity: Polyamory, bisexual MC, a cast all across the LGBTQIA+ community, MC is fat and has anxiety.

Title: The Path to Dawn

Author: Miri Castor | @miricastor Series: Yes Buy: Amazon Premise: Opal Charm is still grieving the loss of her brother when she meets a mysterious student in her class. Through their budding friendship, Opal discovers she has special powers, powers that brother once had. But she must learn how to wield them before an evil force destroys all that she loves. Themes/Elements: PoC kids/teens with superpowers, platonic relationships, family ties, light and darkness MC Race/Ethnicity: Black Other Characters: Filipino Other Diversity: LGBTQIA+ (Book 2) & depression

Title: To Whom it Doesn't Concern

Author: Wisdom A. Yarborough Series: No Buy: Amazon | Goodreads Premise: (TW Suicide)

A kid at Mortimer’s school has thrown himself off the roof. Everyone is freaking out, and trying to deal with the situation, while Mortimer wants this all to just pass as quickly as possible. It wasn’t like he was close to the kid who died, so there’s no reason to be concerned, or to even care? …Right?

Themes/Elements: Dealing with loss/grief, Suicide/Depression/Mental Health & Healing MC Race/Ethnicity: White Other Characters: Topher, the love interest, is Pakistani-American. Mortimer’s ex girlfriend is black.

Other Diversity: Topher is Canonically Pansexual, Mortimer realizes he’s bisexual throughout the story, Many characters suffer with depression, and depression/suicide/suicidal thoughts are a huge part of the themes of the story, and coping with those feelings.

Read the first book share here: Find your next diverse read #1

Folks - If you read any of these books, please leave the author a review.

WWC Reader Publications - Winter 2019/2020

#wwc #wwc post #writing with color #books #Book Recommendations #diversity #ownvoices #diverse books #authors of color #authors #find your next diverse read #long post

658 notes · View notes

janiedean · 4 years

Note

Hi! I'm the Plato anon for before. First of, thank you so much for your offer, but I think I managed on me own. Second, could you elaborate on the "analysing as YA" vs "analysing as an adult" approach? I assumed that "discourse people" on this website generally don't go beyond "antagonist is bad because they are against the hero!" out of ignorance/lack of interest except to score Internet Fame Points, not that it was due a specific mindest. I also don't really read YA (except Tiffany Aching)

TIFFANY ACHING!! T_T ANON LET ME HUG YOU it’s like the only YA I actually liked in my entire life apart from nick hornby’s one book but that wasn’t typical lmao

THAT SAID, well your discourse people point is pretty much part of it but since I’m here and I can rant have the entire thing I was too tired to hash yesterday ;) so, in order:

first thing, we need to establish that ya books and **adult** books generally have different target audiences which is fine and good because obviously if you want to write a thing you’ll do that for An Audience That You Have In Mind; this doesn’t mean that adults can’t read ya or that teenagers can’t read **adult books** because everyone can read what they want (and personally for one I never cared for ya in my entire life not even when I was the target audience), but it simply means that some books are meant to be liked by one category first and eventual others later and they need to be talked about in that specific context first and everything else later - then there might be books that are aimed for kids/young readers or sold like that or that can be read on more than one level which can be appreciated for different things later in time (for example I read huck finn at sixteen and I absolutely loved it but it was a book that here is seen as good reading material also for eight year olds, and at eight I wouldn’t have liked it for the reasons I did at sixteen, and if I read it now I would still like it, while a bunch of the books for kids I read when I was seven is stuff I enjoyed then but forgot now and probably was good for that age but didn’t stick with me);

second thing, that means that when I discuss a young adult book aimed at teenagers I will never hold it to the standards I would hold a book aimed at a general adult audience, especially if it’s the kind of ya like dunno as stated the vampire diaries aimed at teenage girls which is obviously the kind where you have the fantasy world with the hot dark guy who swoons the high schooler protagonist off her feet etc because that stuff is basic teenage girl fantasy 101 and like... I’ll expect a bunch of romance tropes, the usual push and pull, the guy eventually being into her, the protagonist being someone a fourteen year-old can see herself in, probably a few sexual elements thrown here and there and so on, because that’s the shit marketed at fourteen year-olds who want to read that and like... it’s really not that deep. I can’t ask the vampire diaries to be moby dick because it’s not meant to be. or, if I read percy j/ackson - which is another thing I have zero interest in but I know about because I see tweets from the author - I expect to have a bunch of teens coming into their own coming from different backgrounds because the author wants to represent properly a lot of categories so most of his readers can have someone they can see themselves in and like if a thirteen year-old who suspects being lgbt or whatever sees themselves in the gay kid from per/cy jackson guess what that’s what that book is for, so I won’t judge it on like... being a faithful representation of greek myths or how good the style is or whatever, because even if to me it’s not top notch writing or has a plot idc about it has to be for teenagers and pre-teens, not for me, a thirty year old who again didn’t even like pre-teen aimed literature when she was a pre-teen;

third, I can extra clarify it using the damned hp discourse, as in: when I say I’m tired of people not reading anything else or reading everything like hp, it means that they read it when they were growing up/were teens and it was aimed at them which is fine, but then twenty fucking years later when the people in question are way beyond their twenties (guys I’m almost 32 and I remember when the first one came out come on) when talking about any single piece of media in existence (movies, comics, other books) use hp characters/situations as the terms of paragon - like guys I had to read sn/ape comparisons with theon and ky/lo ren on the basis that THEY’RE GREY CHARACTERS as if sn/ape is the only grey character that ever existed, people keep on talking about vold/emort as the only bad guy that ever existed and so on, and like... you can’t talk about, idk, asoiaf or any book aimed at an adult audience like you’d talk about hp, because at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if I read comparisons between sn/ape and ivan karamazov and I think I don’t need to specify how completely nonsensical that would be;

now, with all of this explained, what I mean is: ya in general - which is not a fault per se of the genre since it’s aimed at teens and pre-teens - tends to have... very fixed narrative schemes depending on which teens it’s addressing - like, stuff like tvd or twilight is obviously the romance teenage girl fantasy where you have the girl fighting to be with the dark beautiful supernatural creature in question, per/cy jackson is more like I’ll give you a bunch of relatable characters having cool adventures against bad guys with the occasional redemption so we can see that people are redeemable but you still have right vs wrong, hp is sort of like that in the sense you get relatable-ish protagonist with relatable friends growing up throughout the entire thing and fighting on the good side vs the evil side including the usual death of the mentor plus people who seemed bad actually not being bad™ except that PJ has more povs and better rep from what I gather but that’s not the point so it’s basically the growing up journey for the young protagonist(s) the kid sees themselves in, then there’s stuff like hunger games where you actually have the dystopian worldbuilding just written to be enjoyable by younger people who don’t want to get too depressed (and ngl I haven’t read the books but I’ve seen the first two movies and guys the way everyone ignores the classist commentary in thg to discuss the love triangle is... a staple of the problem tbh) but still try to introduce deeper themes and have more nuanced characters and at the same time are still written to be enjoyed maybe by the more adult side of the target, and at the same time I can’t say that thg is the same as 1984 when it comes to target audience because 1984 doesn’t make the ugly dystopian themes more accessible using the love story/teenage protagonist etc;

at this point the problem is: if you only ever read ya and nothing else in your life (which is what a lot of people here do - guys again when I got here in 2011 if people didn’t discuss hp they discussed john gr/een, the only *adult*-aimed book I see discussed on tumblr is asoiaf... because of got X°DDD) then you end up seeing every other piece of literature expecting what you do out of a young adult and then you expect adult literature out of young adults/ya to approach certain implications the way an adult novel would, which is... frankly ridiculous;

specific examples: I see blogs which are principally about like ya fantasy books ie acotar or shadow/hunters or whatever shitting on grrm because AAAAH HE’S PROBLEMATIC/MISOGYNIST/HE HAS VIOLENCE AND RAPE IN THE BOOKS BLAH BLAH and like... spoilers: if I wrote a fantasy series aimed at fourteen year-olds who want their fantasy romance with the hot dark guy who is maybe a tiny bit problematic but turns their leaf for them I would hold back on blood and violence, if I wrote a fantasy for adults where I want to be realistic about misogyny I will not, and the fact that grrm gets judged on what happens and not how he writes it (and again, saying that a guy who has 1/3rd of his pov characters female except that it’s actually 50/50 because there are no throwaway povs except for mel while guys have a lot more of them and all the female povs have narrative weight [and mel has it before she gets one] and all of them have a different personality and he also has the same trope [brienne and arya] in two people with wildly different personalities and needs which is basically a goddamned miracle is a misogynist because there’s misogyny in his fantasy world is ridiculous imvho) which is.... exactly expecting of asoiaf what you’d expect out of acotar, when grrm and acotar’s writer write for wildly different audiences. now, if I had read acotar at 15 and asoiaf at 15 I’d have had no doubt re asoiaf being more my thing because again the subgenre acotar goes for is not my thing because I never related to that fantasy while brienne is my rep, but in general a 14yo girl who likes the acotar-like stuff will not care for grrm.... which is normal because grrm writes for adults of both genders, not teenage girls (I mean teenage boys also have their own subgenres for which the same rules are valid), and someone who likes percy jackson (aimed at both genders but like... pre-teens early teens) who doesn’t gaf for grrm won’t because it’s not aimed at them unless they like grrm for other reasons ie idk they realize that they relate to jon snow idk but you see my point, so like tldr that’s what I mean with if you only read ya you’ll expect adult writers to handle their themes like ya writers would and like... sorry but if I write stuff for adults I won’t feel the need to specify that the bad guy is B A D with neon lights because an adult should grasp that from the narrative, I don’t need to make sure it’s obvious bc it’s aimed at kids;

reverse: when I see people saying ‘the vampire diaries is problematic because it’s about people who are a hundred years old preying on teenage girls so we need to stop teenage girls from reading that kind of thing because it makes them think it’s okay to go with someone that much older than them’, we’re at the opposite problem in the sense that you’re asking a young adult novel what you would ask of AN ADULT NOVEL when there’s no point in it. like, a teenage girl knows perfectly that damon salvatore doesn’t exist and vampires don’t exist and werewolves don’t exist - the entire point of tvd is that she gets to fawn over the hot supernatural dude who changes for the better thanks to the female protagonist she most likely sees herself in and she gets to have a few nice fantasies about that which is like... normal for people who are developing their sexualities, most people wouldn’t actually want damon salvatore the way he’s exactly in canon irl because they know it’s a fantasy and so it should stay. like, sorry but as someone who watched the show because ian somerhalder is hot in her twenties and tried the first book and gave it up at page 30 because I couldn’t do it, I can 100% assure anyone that the biggest issues with tvd books are that the writing is really fucking bad (for my standards at least), with the tvd show that from S4 the writing spiraled downwards and no one wanted the magical vampire pregnancy witch twins ridiculousness, but none of the content actually was shit that anyone would take seriously like that and I wouldn’t expect tvd to approach that subject realistically. if I read a vampire book aimed at adults who actually wants to write such a relationship as creepy WELL YES OF COURSE I’D EXPECT IT TO BE OBVIOUS ABOUT IT BEING CREEPY, but if it’s aimed at freaking teenagers... it’s a fantasy and not really that deep, take it for what it is and let teenage girls enjoy thinking about smooching damon salvatore (or stefan or whoever) without assuming they need to be protected from Horrible Vampire Fiction™, same as no one goes bitching about unrealistic sex scenes in serialized romance books because people read them because they’re unrealistic and escapism, not because they expect nobel prize worthy exploration of themes from them;

now, ^^^^^^ would not happen if people actually read variedly and studied some decent lit analysis in school - but like, after I had to read I think at some point that of mice and men is ableist... THAT’S the damned point - with ya you can take a lot of the plot at face value, with adult lit you can’t and you have to see motivation beyond the action of the characters and you can’t do that if you only read books aimed at pre-teens/teenagers where obviously that’s... more spelled out than it would be in a book aimed at an adult audience;

that by the way also means wildly missing actual adult themes discussion in ya, because again, I haven’t read thg but from the two movies I’ve seen it’s fucking obvious that the whole thing is an anti us-classism commentary from how the districts are built to how the games are rigged to pretty much everything in the worldbuilding, but all the discourse I see on tumblr is about either the love triangle or katniss being miscast or president snow being a jerk and whatever else, but I never once saw anyone saying ‘heeeeey the people in katniss’ district are an in your face metaphor of poor people in the us of a belonging to certain categories while the first few districts are absolutely the 1% and the entire point of it is that she wants to tell you A CLASSIST SOCIETY IS BAD AND WILL LEAD TO REVOLUTIONS’, which to me was... like, glaring, it was literally what 90% of the entire thing was about and no one ever discusses it in a fandom-wide sense (I mean... I saw a bunch of hg posts back when the movies came out, I never saw this brought out), which... is a problem because it means that the moment people are put in front of a ya product that actually tackles that kind of issue.... they go and worry about the love triangle (which seemed to me the excuse to draw the people in the story) not about the social commentary, and like, maybe a twelve year-old won’t catch on the social commentary, a twenty-year old especially from the us should, and I don’t see that happening;

and sorry but that is because if you only engage with content aimed at a younger audience than your target first you assume that every piece of literature should be consumable/readable/enjoyable by a younger audience (and sorry but no, some of us don’t want to write stuff making sure teenagers like it) and then ask of actual ya media to cater to their *adult* needs and not to the needs of the target audience because wow obviously if you’re 25 you won’t want out of literature what you wanted at fourteen;

and this also is valid for children’s media because again, I’m cutting it short, but adults watching st/even universe and sending people death threats because they don’t agree with their opinion of a cartoon aimed at an audience that’s at moooostttt eight years old is a thing that shouldn’t even fucking exist, and if you think steven/universe is that important at an adult age you need to re-assess your priorities;

tldr: adults should not expect media aimed at kids/teens to cater to their interests and shouldn’t analyze it the way they’d analyze a piece of media aimed at an adult audience and should not presume that every piece of media should have the scope/schemes of medias aimed at kids/teens because some of us don’t want to read that.

now, I’ll leave you with a nice short anecdote which hopefully will further clarify what I mean and add to another point which would be, kids and teens don’t give a fuck about what you, an adult, do: when everyone was in a frenzy about my little pony back in 2013 or so I had to see a ton of posts like ‘AAAAAH MEN/BOYS WHO ARE INTO MLP ARE STEALING THE SHOW FROM YOUNG GIRLS HOW DARE THEY ENJOY IT WE NEED TO KICK THEM OUT’ with added people saying that a ten year old male kid who tried to kill himself bc his friends bullied him bc he liked mlp deserved it and the likes, my only thought was that... when I was 8-10 in elementary school and was actually the target for cartoons and stuff, sailor moon was the rage between all girls my age me included, we’d spend recess playing pretend (and I’d get stuck playing sailor mars bc no one wanted her, sad) and our hugest first world problem in existence was that we needed technically a mamoru and of course no self-respecting boy in elementary school would have admitted under death threats to watching sailor moon because it was a girls’ thing (aaaaah gender roles in the early-mid 90s, how fun) so everyone despaired because ofc no one wanted to play mamoru... and the few times any guy actually showed up like HEEEEY I WANNA DO IT BUT PLEASE DON’T TELL MY FRIENDS I LIKE SAILOR MOON we’d all be like OMG YOU’RE OUR NEW FAVORITE PERSON PLEASE YOUR SECRET IS SAFE because we couldn’t believe we found the magical boy™ who wanted to do it, and if anyone had told us that the kid in question was stealing sailor moon from us we’d have laughed in their face.

like.

kids don’t ask of media what you, an adult do, and it’s unfair of you, an adult, to ask children’s/ya media to cater to your damned interests, which are amply catered to by the tons of adult literature around which also forces you to push on your views and read more challenging things and to not read/watch stuff at face value, which is why I would really appreciate it if the amount of 20yo people on here who I consider adults engaged with more adult media and let themselves be challenged instead of just going back to ya/kids’ things, which are good for teens and kids and can be enjoyed by everyone but should not be the only goddamned genre you measure all other literature against because then you get people saying that lolita is pro-pedo when it’s exactly the goddamned contrary, but if you think that pov character = protagonist = good guy (which is... staple kids/ya stuff for obvious reasons) then you decide that humbert humbert is someone you’re supposed to root for. too bad that you’re not and the author was an actual csa victim so it’s a completely ridiculous reading that wouldn’t happen if you didn’t read lolita the way you read hp.

... okay, I’m done, sorry for how long this was, I hope it cleared things for good xD

#literature for ts #janie rants #idek #Anonymous #ask post #suicide attempt cw

39 notes · View notes

hopetofantasy · 4 years

Text

“The great success of the Flemish youth series wtFOCK: rather controversy than taboo.”

- Translated LGBT news article -

The "secret" TV program wtFOCK was in 2019 the most popular searched word on Google in Belgium. The online series, which is currently in its third season, is fully focused on young people. Many parents and adults didn’t know about the existence of this series. But what makes the series so popular? Mega popular The popularity of 'wtFOCK' can not be underestimated. A survey conducted last year by Telenet on 3000 Flemish youngsters, where the latter were asked to spontaneously sum up their favorite programs, showed that only the international hit series "Game Of Thrones" scored better. Even when at the start, the series made little to no advertising. The marketing around wtFOCK, which was fully based on the Scandinavian concept called Skam, revolves around the fact that young people need to discover the show itself. "Because the series is really for and by young people, we decided to forgo any major marketing campaign, it just does not fit with the concept," said Ils Neuts, head of entertainment at Telenet.

And that’s exactly one of the reasons why the series is so popular. Young people get something that’s 'exclusively' for them, since their parents or teachers don’t know anything about it, what they can discuss among themselves. When someone asks them what it's about, they can say "oh, nothing", and the adults would believe them, too.

Homosexuality As you read before on this website, the tv series wtFOCK recently showed the story of a gay couple for the first time this explicitly. They showed long scenes where the two boys kiss each other, make love and even have a steamy scene in the shower. And even though they don’t show everything in these scenes, it’s already so much more than other youth series and films, where they avoid the subject of homosexuality and don’t dare to visualize it. wtFOCK never shuns anything and displays all issues affecting young people.

The third season of the original series Norwegian was by far the most popular. In Flanders, it appears to be no different. It pushes a male character to the front: Robbe wrestles with his homosexual feelings. He falls in love with a mysterious newcomer, and their relationship puts a strain on other people’s lives as well. The current season was also the most controversial, even for the youth themselves. Not only because of the gay lead, where even adults still can learn a lot about tolerance, but also the many shocking clips. Robbe not only suffers from a severe depression, he was also beaten up because he was kissing a boy. Moreover, he considered to commit suicide. "What a scary clip", was said on social media. "Can you put a trigger warning the next time? For some, it’s really triggering. " Yet, it can not be said wtFOCK doesn’t anticipate such reactions. At the end of each clip they refer young people to the help sites, if needed. They have even designed one themselves: watwat.be.

More realism It’s also true that many other viewers, who are still in the majority, praise the Flemish remake because of the more realistic representation of a coming-out. "In the original Norwegian version, his orientation was so quickly accepted by everyone around him that it was no longer credible," they say. "This time they have at least recognized how difficult it really can be, even today, unfortunately." To top it off, Sander - Robbe’s new love - is fighting against bipolar disorder. A storyline that also brings psychological problems up for discussion. Youth vs. parents Young people not only think of wtFOCK as a source of entertainment, but also a platform for their own questions and concerns. The tv series is recognizable and does not dance around difficult topics. It's probably one of the few series that realistically reflects the lives of modern youth.

Parents may not like it, but yes, young people in high school are drinking alcohol, use drugs and have sex. Topics that many youth series either completely ignore the topic or cut the scene at that exact time. wtFOCK took another approach. We see a bunch of bros smoking pot in a bathtub, while the rest of their friends - one floor down - binge drink at a party. Two girls are kissing in the living room. Two boys making love together? No problem, and when it happens to be in a shower where there is nothing to hide? Gladly, even.

Do not worry, we also see the painful consequences, such as a heavy hangover or an embarrassing visit to the doctor, very clearly. Moreover, during a first time having sex, we see teens looking for condoms in a nightstand. And when we see a depressed Robbe standing on the edge of the Scheldt after he saw his love kissing another, we hear the next morning that he needs to go to a psychologist. Which he does.

wtFOCK doesn’t deny drinking or drug problems, but gives pieces of correct information without pointing a finger in a media landscape where programs are sometimes patronizing. They don’t say ‘don’t do it', but 'here is how to solve it." Two male minors who play out their romance openly on the screen, is advanced in a completely different way. The show doesn’t care about the question “Why we shouldn’t do this" and focuses on "why we SHOULD do this”.

[...]

Source: http://www.holebi.info/phpnews/kortnews.php?action=fullnews&id=18098

73 notes · View notes

i-am-grell · 5 years

Text

Here’s My Top 100 For 2018 From Spotify

And me trying to justify them! (Look, some are WIP-related, others are jams, some I really can’t explain I just got back into Glee for like a month at one point this year...) Here’s the playlist

1. From a Mountain In The Middle Of The Cabins - Panic! At The Disco

Look, I just love the bouncy piano and the tuba. You can never have a bad tuba.

2. The End. - My Chemical Romance

Goes along with Chapter 8 of my WIP, Interlude, because I’m mean

3. Blank Space - I Prevail

This also goes along with Interlude from Chapter 1 - 5

4. If It Means A Lot To You - A Day To Remember

This one goes with my WIP Blood Bound (This one isn’t posted anywhere) (specifically, book 5)

5. Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes - Fall Out Boy

Another Blood Bound one (Book 7)

6. This Could Be Anywhere In The World - Alexisonfire

Interlude

7. The Curse of Curves - Cute is What We Aim For

This was going to be Interlude-related but got replaced. Still a banger

8. Disturbia - The Cab

The theme song of Dreavyn from my WIP Aaron Being Normal and if anyone has any tips on how to control a chaotic bisexual OC please let me know

9. Jumpsuit - Twenty One Pilots

Funky bass

10. MakeDamnSure - Taking Back Sunday

A theme for Trace from Aaron Being Normal (Won’t be extremely relevant until book 3 (also this was supposed to be a standalone...))

11. Miss Murder - AFI

Funky bass part 2

12. Fences - Paramore

Interlude again - A Selena Walton Theme Song.

13. The Sharpest Lives - My Chemical Romance

Interlude - A Morgan/Selena/Mostly Selena Theme. (Also, a banger)

14. Camisado - Panic! At The Disco

Interlude - How many hospital scenes can I fit into 1 WIP about depressed teens? (Turns out three; maybe four, technically)

15. My Heart I Surrender - I Prevail

Cole’s character song (Interlude) (Also romantic AF)

16. I Don’t Care - Fall Out Boy

Interlude. Also a Mood

17. Holiday/Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day

Partially Interlude, partially because Holiday fucking slaps and BoBD is a classic

18. Ocean Avenue - Yellowcard

1/2 Interlude, 1/2 a Mood

19. I Don’t Wanna Be In Love (Dance Floor Anthem) - Good Charlotte

Dare I say, an aro-ace mood?

20. Check Yes, Juliet - We The Kings

I feel like half this playlist is just gonna be songs from the Interlude playlist...

21. Problematique - Hot Chelle Rae

Some funky bass, call and response, and fast rhyming - an ultimate jam

22. Postcards - Amber Pacific

Interlude playlist

23. Nico and The Niners - Twenty One Pilots

Look, I just really like Trench; it’s a good album

24. Demolition Lovers - My Chemical Romance

This is on the Interlude playlist but there’s such a Bonnie and Clyde feel to it, man...

25. Do You Know What I’m Seeing? - Panic! At The Disco

No. I don’t. Good song to dissociate to, though. I’m not good at instruments but good guitar/ukulele/whatever it is. Pleasant mood.

26. Rough Hands - Alexisonfire

Look, I’m trying to learn how to properly sing unclean parts (screamo parts) which will be absolutely shocking coming from a 5′2″ blonde girl; I need songs to practice to...

27. The Irony of Choking on a Lifesaver - All Time Low

Theme song to the Netflix adaptation of Interlude that plays in my head on repeat. Now if only I could actually finish writing the goddamn book...

28. Fat Lip - Sum 41

Interlude playlist, also listen to it and tell me you don’t hate everybody and this town

29. Say Anything (Else) - Cartel

I like singing the intro/chorus as sort of a vocal warm up...

30. Oh Well, Oh Well - Mayday Parade

Just a fucking MOOD my dudes

31. Whatever Happened To Saturday Night? - Glee Cast Version

No offense to Meat Loaf....but John Stamos... (Also Interlude (Travis) inspo) (Also I was really into Glee again earlier this year... Still haven’t actually watched past season 3...)

32. The Anthem - Good Charlotte

What I listen to when I consider dropping out and becoming a bog witch, but, like, a punk bog witch

33. Thunder - Boys Like Girls

Aaron Being Normal Inspo. The band’s name is ironic considering how Gay I make it...

34. Don’t You Know Who I Think I Am? - Fall Out Boy

I like singing this one when I’m drunk

35. I Don’t Love You - My Chemical Romance

Blood Bound (Book 2)

36. This Is Gospel - Panic! At The Disco

Blood Bound (Book 3)

37. Silver Bullet - Hawthorne Heights

Interlude Playlist

38. Weightless - All Time Low

MAYBE IT’S NOT MY WEEKEND BUT IT’S GONNA BE MY YEAR I scream to myself on a Tuesday

39. Who Do You Love - Marianas Trench

Have you ever looked up an a capella version of this one? Cuz yeah

40. Let The Flames Begin - Paramore

Anti-Depression, yet still Depressed Mood

41. Red Sam - Flyleaf

Depression Mood - also Interlude playlist

42. Jamie All Over - Mayday Parade

Interlude Playlist, and I think the Dreavyn playlist too... Look, it’s just a jam

43. Savior - Rise Against

Interlude Theme

44. Kiss Me, Kill Me - Mest

Another Interlude thing also a really good Selena x Morgan song

45. Hot To The Touch, Cold On The Inside - Fall Out Boy

Aaron Being Normal song also it’s about a hot pocket

46. Newport Living - Cute is What We Aim For

Interlude song that causes drama

47. Meant To Live - Switchfoot

Selena song - Interlude

48. Kill All Your Friends - My Chemical Romance

This is on the Interlude playlist purely because I’m Evil

49. You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid - The Offspring

On the Interlude playlist, also highly recommend blaring this through the hallways of your Catholic High School during lunch

50. Lights And Sounds - Yellowcard

Interlude Playlist also a banger

51. Angel With A Shotgun - The Cab

If this ain’t romantic as shit... Also it will make you wanna declare war on God Himself what a Mood

52. Somebody Told Me - The Killers

I’m not justifying why The Killer’s is on here I’m just shocked and appalled that Mr. Brightside has yet to make an appearance Spotify

53. Alright - Hot Chelle Rae

The English major inside of me wants to correct it to “all right” also Interlude epilogue Mood.

54. Changing - Saosin

Interlude Playlist

55. Bring Me To Life (Synthesis) - Evanescence

The Synthesis version is far superior and allows me to Properly showcase my Amy Lee impression

56. Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bed - Fall Out Boy

Along with J. Michael Tatum, Patrick Stump’s voice is My Religion - the first 23 seconds > The Beatles

57. Pas De Cheval - Panic! At The Disco

Sounds gallop-y

58. Be My Escape - Relient K

Interlude Mood/Theme

59. Science Fiction Double Feature - Glee Cast

Look, all Rocky Horror versions are great, even the Glee one...

60. Dear Maria, Count Me In - All Time Low

I like to sing this one when drunk

61. Stand - Flyleaf

Blood Bound (Final Book. End. Roll credits.)

62. I’d Do Anything - Simple Plan

A jam

63. Sweetness - Jimmy Eat World

The call-response, the spastic drums, damn boi, they’ve got it all

64. Say You Like Me - We The Kings

Catchy song, little fuckboi-ish if you really listen to the lyrics, but it’s not Baby It’s Cold Outside-bad???

65. AMBULANCE - My Chemical Romance

*Choir Ah-ing*, also an Interlude mood considering there are like 2 separate confirmed ambulance parts anyway...

66. crushcrushcrush - Paramore

Look me dead in the eye and tell me Hayley Williams didn’t put everything into her lyrics/singing here

67. Stay - Mayday Parade

Songs for when you’re heartbroken but to the point of dissociating while it rains outside, starting to storm, it starts out with just the grey pattering of a sheet of raindrops and soon the thunder starts to rumble with growing intensity and lightning splits the sky

68. There’s A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven’t Thought Of It Yet - Panic! At The Disco

I am the victim of Dreavyn Hawthorne from my WIP Aaron Being Normal seriously if anyone can help me control a chaotic theatre bisexual...

69. Lyrical Lies - Cute is What We Aim For

This band’s lyrics are so fucking poetic it is Shakespeare to a guitar, y’all

70. Wilson (Expensive Mistakes) - Fall Out Boy

I always get like a falling slowly down one of those psychedelic tubes greenscreened into the background feeling at the intro but just like totally at peace falling, like kinda like listening to Ride by 21P type mood but then the chorus comes and it’s a jam

71. Backseat Serenade - All Time Low

Just a banger

72. My Own Worst Enemy - Lit

Look I don’t party too hard but when I do we go hard I was at a party on a Thursday night that didn’t end until the next morning no shit one guy I know did a kegstand before going to his English class

73. Come As You Are - Nirvana

Damn Kurt we miss you but you turned out some jams that no one can match

74. Traitor - Flyleaf

Blood Bound (Book 3)

75. Sadie Hawkins Dance - Relient K

The lyrics are so stupid but damn I love it

76. Poetically Pathetic - Amber Pacific

Did you mean literally 90% of my male OCs?

77. Saviour - LIGHTS

The first LIGHTS song I ever heard and I will defend my favourite singer until the day I die she’s Canadian like me, her family is ADORABLE, SHE is ADORABLE and I love her the end

78. Jersey - Mayday Parade

This goes with every WIP I’ve ever conceived and literally none of them are set in Jersey

79. The Middle - Jimmy Eat World

I feel like this song is just a universal mood but no one can explain exactly why

80. C’mon - Panic! At The Disco

Wholesome(TM)

81. Sunshine Riptide - Fall Out Boy

Interlude Playlist - I imagine Morgan singing it and that might end up happening in canon but idk yet...

82. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond

Easily in the top 3 Neil Diamond songs if not the top, fight me.

83. First Date - blink-182

Literally just such an adorable song, blink-182 is the best

84. Last Hope - Paramore

Mostly a Selena song (Interlude) but idk I’ve destroyed many OCs wills to live so

85. Black Sheep - Metric

@spotify please put the Brie Larson version from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World on your streaming service I’m begging you - a very gay

86. When You Were Young - The Killers

Good song, real jam, where’s Mr. Brightside, spotify, where is it????

87. Broken Hearts Parade - Good Charlotte

A certified bop

88. All I Want - A Day To Remember

A song for my greedier OCs who just want to stop being tortured but yknow what children life aint fair

89. The Kids From Yesterday - My Chemical Romance

Put this in any of my WIPs really...

90. Threshold - Sex Bob-Omb

Try to tell me the Scott Pilgrim vs. The World soundtrack isn’t lit

91. Sorrow - Flyleaf

Blood Bound (Book 3)

92. Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea - Fall Out Boy

You know when you’re writing intense battles or going to get a tattoo and need a playlist of War Songs? This is like the first one on my War Songs playlist

93. Jesus Of Suburbia - Green Day

A staple in the punk rock genre

94. Neon Gravestones - Twenty One Pilots

Ngl I sobbed when I first heard this one so

95. Pressure - Paramore

Very vocal on the Interlude playlist

96. Starlight - Muse

I first got into Muse because it fueled Twilight but yknow what they’re still a damn good group and Supermassive Black Hole carried the baseball scene which was an astounding piece of cinema so

97. Sleepless in Phoenix - blessthefall

It’s literally just my favourite blessthefall song, fight me

98. Kids In The Dark - All Time Low

My mood for when my dad tells me “you’re 20 you should be able to figure it out” like excuse me for not learning how the entire world works the second I turned 18...

99. Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time - Panic! At The Disco

Refer to My Own Worst Enemy. Add drugs. I’ve never done drugs but..

100. Feeling This - blink-182

*screams I’m Feeling This at regular intervals* (I have no explanation it’s just a BOP)

#music #spotify #spotify 2018 #top songs 2018 #playlist #spotify playlist

3 notes · View notes

crozbow · 6 years

Text

Song Tag Double Whammy

So my dude @fujiquacki tagged me in some things and I’m gonna do em and add vague descriptions because it’s 3am and I love music. (sidenote this took me like 3 hours so now it's 6am whatever tho)

I'll do the tagging stuff now, I don’t think i have 10 mutuals who aren’t also tagged in fuji’s post but I’ll tag as many as i can way up here so you don't have to read like 1100ish words of me being gay for music if you don't want to lmao

@standarddivination, @thecockmeister, @samsucc, @marvelfangeek09, @tia-lewise, @pure-love-and-destruction, @thehavenabovereality, come check this out and do it if you feel like it lol

Part 1:

Rules: If you can, list the Top Ten songs you are listening to lately, and tag ten mutuals to do the same!

1) Get Got // Death Grips

(Brutal experimental industrial hip-hop that about police chases and death with really dark and intimidating synth)

2) Garden Shed // Tyler, The Creator

(The number one song about being in the closet ever, also some really trippy melodies and great vocals from both Tyler and Estelle, also I don't know what pedals they used to get the great guitar effect in the bridge but i fkn want them)

3) Under Your Thumb // Godley & Creme

(Fabulous synth and a haunting (haha) story about meeting the ghost of a suicidal woman on the train she threw herself in front of.)

4) Thou Shalt Always Kill // Dan Le Sac vs Scroobious Pip

(More great hip-hop, this time an inspiring message about how to think critically and not worship content creators)

5) Barracuda // Heart

(That classic flanger riff at the start is really ingrained in my mind recently and also Ann Wilson's voice is freaking great on this track wow)

6) Garbage Truck // Sex Bob-omb/Beck

(Scott Pilgrim is my all time fave and I got a new fuzz pedal that sounds so much like this I've been thinking of covering it, indie rock with heavy overdriven bass and simple but loveable vocals)

7) Now The Action Is On Fire // Biffy Clyro

(The kind of heavy alternative rock that’s the staple of Biffy's early albums, the driving guitar and interesting drum pattern contrasted with violins and soft vocals on this one keep me coming back to it despite it being fairly hefty at like 8 minutes long ish)

8) Just Keep Walking // INXS

(A great Australian mix of New Wave, Ska and a dash of poppy melody, this track has a sweet bassline and a catchy hook and I haven't been able to stop playing it since I bought the band's 1st LP last week)

9) Friend Zone // Yucky Duster

(Brooklyn quad Yucky Duster's intro to their self titled album is a fabulously blunt deconstruction of the way creepy guys think. Coupled with a great guitar riff that makes for a short but surprisingly replayable track here)

10) The Working Hour // Tears For Fears

(MMMMMmmmmmm that saxophone and also Roland Orzabal's voice is honey right here wow I love new wave and synthpop and damn I'm very gay for the 80s in general but jeez this song exemplifies it)

Part 2:

Rules: Write the first 10 songs that come up on shuffle, write your favorite lyrics, then tag 10 people.

Moonage Daydream // David Bowie Keep your electric eye on me babe Put your ray gun to my head Press your space face close to mine, love Freak out in a moonage daydream oh yeah! (This one always makes me think of like an awesome raypunk romance type scene I love it)

Irresistible // Fall Out Boy You ought to keep me concealed just like I was a weapon I didn't come for a fight but I will fight 'til the end This one might be a battle, might not turn out okay You know you look so Seattle but you feel so LA (I’ve never been to Seattle or LA but damn I guess I’m feeling what he’s saying here)

Here Comes The Hotstepper // Ini Kamoze Nah, na na na nah Na na na nah, na na nah, na na nah Na na na nah Here comes the hotstepper (murderer) I'm the lyrical gangster (murderer) Big up di crew in-a di area (murderer) Still love you like that (murderer) (A true classic, really, if you don’t naaa nananana along with this we aren’t friends)

Lullaby // The Cure Quietly he laughs and shaking his head Creeps closer now, closer to the foot of the bed And softer than shadow and quicker than flies His arms are all around me and his tongue in my eyes Be still be calm be quiet now my precious boy Don't struggle like that or I will only love you more For it's much too late to get away or turn on the light The spider-man is having you for dinner tonight (Robert Smith is creepy af when he wants to be and this is such a great depiction of depression and addiction in a lyrical form wow)

Letter From God To Man // Scroobious Pip vs Dan Le Sac So I apologize for any mistakes I made And when my words misconstrued But this apology's to Mother Nature Cause I created you (Weirdly not the only song about how we’re messing up earth but probably the wittier of the two)

505 // Arctic Monkeys But I crumble completely when you cry It seems like once again you've had to greet me with "Goodbye" I'm always just about to go and spoil a surprise Take my hands off of your eyes too soon (damn this breakdown is depressing but also a banger)

Waiting // Green Day I've been, waiting a long time For this, moment to come I'm destined, for anything at all (aimlessly drifting has always been my thing so yano)

A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More "Touch Me" // Fall Out Boy And you're just the girl all the boys want to dance with And I'm just the boy who's had too many chances I'm sleeping on your folks' porch again, dreaming She said, she said, she said "Why don't you just drop dead?" (I feel like this pre-chorus haunted me back in my angsty emo days and it will probably actually haunt me for the rest of my life, but secretly i kinda love it)

Forest // System Of A Down Why can't you see that you are my child? Why don't you know that you are my mind? Tell everyone in the world that I'm you Take this promise to the end of you (A song about mother earth pleading with her offspring humanity to recognize what they’re doing to her and step out of the forest of their denial, equally ghostly and heavy this chorus is always hard hitting)

Shoplifters Of The World Unite // The Smiths Shoplifters of the world Unite and take over Shoplifters of the world Hand it over, hand it over, hand it over (Karl Marx’s “worker of the world, unite...” remixed by Morrissey to suit harsh realities in the dole lines of working class England)

Thanks for coming to my musical TEDx talk you guys

#my stuff #music I like #music #tag post #rant #longpost #long post

5 notes · View notes

spkdnailbats · 5 years

Text

Hyper-fixations!! (aka- my stan list)

yo so I've realized I always hyper-fixate on characters in media that I either relate to, wish to be like, or draw comfort from.... so bc I'm bored here's some peeps in this category:

•Taako (The Adventure Zone Balance) - want to be like - openly himself, multidimensional, fully realized creation, loved by many, charismatic, in a good and healthy relationship (thats also so supportive and cute and god wheres my gf version of kravitz???), unapologetic, went through some shit and came out different and with issues but is still just good, loves family, passionate

•Angus McDonald (The Adventure Zone Balance) - comfort character - hes just a sweet lil guy who just loves his weird found family and is just so smart and precious and i love him with my whole soul and being, makes me smile whenever he pops up

•Magic Brian (The Adventure Zone Balance) - comfort character - can never fail to make me laugh and smile

•Hurley (The Adventure Zone Balance) - relate to - a small ball of energy, typically a rule follower but likes to stray away sometimes, a gay!!, lowkey likes to race in my jeep (its only with my one friend and its not a legit race but we say it is and its v fun)

•Carey Fangbattle (The Adventure Zone Balance) - relate to / want to be like - tiny but big personality, a gay!!, fiesty, sneaky, tough cookie, loves a tall butch girl (i do not have a tall butch girl to love but maybe someday!!), badass little rogue (i wish)

•Virgil "Anxiety" Sanders (Sanders Sides/Thomas Sanders) - relate to - anxious ball of something, many people consider cute although deny it / dont believe it, self deprecating!!, needs a hug, tries to be intimidating but fails, the mom™ friend

•Lapis Lazuli (Steven Universe) - relate to - felt lost, felt ostracized from friends (sometimes true sometimes not - gee, cognitive distortions are a bitch), found people and felt comfortable and at home with them, found family, self deprecating, separates self to not get hurt, wants to protect but also avoid, sad™

•Peridot (Steven Universe) - comfort character - had genuine growth as a character which is nice to see, is silly but also can be serious, makes me smile whenever i see her

•Howl (Howl’s Moving Castle) - relate to / want to be like - very much himself, overdramatic af (drama queen and a diva), sees the best in people, cares based on personality rather than looks (calls an old lady beautiful bc she has a good heart), a versatile lgbt (looks and acts like a gay but dates a pretty girl, the dream ngl), fashionable af and dyes hair fun colors

•Calcifer (Howl’s Moving Castle) - relate to - sassy little bitch, underappreciated until absolutely needed, small and typically seen as tame but can have a big personality at times

•Sophie Hatter (Howl’s Moving Castle) - relate to / want to be like - the odd one out, seen as ordinary, never the pretty one but always the average or forgettable one, always someone better and not often liked, when liked its always true and based on a beautiful personality, finds real love in an unlikely situation (wheres my love in life?), makes own path and doesnt care what people say/think, ambitious, does what needs to be done even if its hard, comforting maternal presence but also dominant and assertive when needed, gets shit done

•Kiki (Kiki's Delivery Service) - relate to / want to be like - is an outsider but finds her place eventually, inexperienced but trying her best, works hard in all she does, makes something of herself (i hope someday thats me), makes the best out of a bad situation

•Stitch (Lilo & Stitch) - relate to - lost, searching for home and family, feel constantly different from everyone else, runs away from problems before finally solving/fixing them

•Baymax (Big Hero 6) - comfort character - was there for hiro and did whatever possible the whole movie to help him (learning about grieving, sacrificing, etc), and there was a time in my life that I really needed that presence and didn’t have it that way at the time, but now 14 years later I’m in a much better state mentally but baymax still makes me cry bc he reminds me of stuff™, (tbh i got to “meet baymax” at disney when i was 16 and lowkey was so excited and cried a bit, and my friend bought me a stuffed animal baymax that afternoon for my birthday and i sobbed and carried it around in my bag for the rest of the trip)

•Hiro (Big Hero 6) - relate to - ((this is gonna get sad sorry ://)) so like hiro i lost a sibling (however i was much younger than hiro and my sibling was younger than me) in a way that it was inflicted by someone else but was “unintentional/collateral” and i didnt really deal with it for a while until i actually got help and started doing things again to get back into normal life. i sob beginning to end during bh6 bc i feel for hiro and i know what hes going through and what its like and it sucks

•Alice (Alice in Wonderland) - relate to - gets lost in own head a lot, kinda a wonky imagination, doesnt follow own advice (”i give myself very good advice, but i very seldom follow it”), happy doing own thing until lost or lonely which then leads to fear and anxiety, doesnt know who to trust, trying to find something that isnt easily found

•Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (Disney) - relate to - ((please look up oswalds story if you dont know who he is- in brief terms, he was a cartoon walt disney made and abandoned when he made his own studio (c. 1920s) and was replaced by mickey and was forgotten about until 2006)) cast aside, forgotten about, replaced, wants to belong

•Carson Phillips (Struck by Lightning) - want to be like / relate to - snarky and sarcastic bitch, does what he needs to in order to get shit done, a “penetrating personality” (literally a quote from the mf book), ambitious, goals bigger than anyone thinks they should be, makes morally ambiguous decisions to get what he wants

•Veronica Sawyer (Heathers) - relate to / want to be like - got some shitty friends who we dont really like but stick around with for convenience or something, has ambitions in life, stands up for what she believes in and for injustice and is generally a brave badass (i wish i was)

•Heather McNamara (Heathers) - relate to - lost, follows “friends”, tries to fit in with those around, sad™

•Elizabeth Swan (Pirates of the Caribbean) - want to be like - brave, stands up for what she believes in even if it might get her killed, tough (literally the pirate king), does what she wants cause she a bad bitch, tough, literally so pretty??, found true love in an unlikely place at an unlikely time, literally got married while fighting next to her true love vs the undead fish pirated while the ship is stuck in a whirlpool, badass af

•Kurt Hummel (Glee) - want to be like / comfort character - open about who he is, fashionable af, in the actual cutest couple on glee yall can fight me about it, learned to love himself then never stopped, a sassy queen always (i have so many of his mannerisms smh), went from cute twink to muscle boy and wow we love a glow-up, went from being bullied into submission and scared to being open and standing up for others even if he gets hurt, always made me smile, first real lgbt person i saw in the media and helped me embrace myself fully

•Klaus Hargreeves (The Umbrella Academy) - relate to - outcast, lotta mental health issues, music lover and bad dancer, headphones always on, bad experiences and trauma formed self, kinda lazy

•Vanya Hargreeves (The Umbrella Academy) - relate to - pushed aside, never a priority, taken advantage of, has own skill no one acknowledges, sad™

•Elphaba Thropp (Wicked) - relate to - cast out, different from everyone else, unique in own way, never the pretty one

----------------------------------------------------

and some honorable mentions of real people I connect with comfort and strive to be like in my day to day life (like ive taken on a lot of their mannerisms or sayings):

•Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy) - literally the sweetest person ever, super talented in so many different ways, so positive and inspirational (esp about mental health)

•Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance, Umbrella Academy) - always accepting of people (esp lgbt!! gay rights!!), multi-dimensional, versatile talents (singer, song writer, artist, comic book writer)

•Mitch Grassi (Pentatonix/Superfruit) - so openly himself, genuine, verbal about mental health (esp anxiety and depression), phenomenal singer, so kind to everyone, unique, fashionable, sassy as hell, lgbt!!, shows dreams can come true

•Chris Colfer (Glee/Author) - super talented (singing, acting, writing), lgbt!!, snarky as hell, super sweet but also super funny, (tbh ive stanned him since like 2012 and hes the only celeb ive ever met and i will always stan that man)

•Hayley Kiyoko (Singer) - lesbian jesus, came out even though she was told it could ruin her career, so truly herself, open about lgbt issues and mental health, positive towards everyone, encourages everyone to open up and be unapologetically themselves

•Eugene Lee Yang (Try Guys) - authentically himself, isn’t afraid of what people thing, does his own thing even if its different and odd to some, lgbt!!, a shady bitch in the best way, has his own style and kills it always

•Daniel Howell (Youtuber) - open about mental health and most recently his past as well as lgbt experience, can make you laugh and cry at the same time somehow, more talented than he thinks he is, shows you can get through anything

#hey dont reblog bitches #Em's personal vent thingy #sfw #hyper-fixations #people/characters #i think this explains a lot about me #theres definitely a theme here #ive been working on this for like an hour and its now 3 am someone please look at this #you can definitely tell which ones i wrote first because theyre coherent and the rest turn to nonsense

0 notes

ismael37olson · 5 years

Text

As Soft and as Pink as a Nursery -- 13 Really Sexist Musicals

In this moment in our cultural history, in which we're finally calling out expressions of sexism, racism, and other bias, it's worth looking closer at the shows we produce. Maybe the Era of Trump has made it necessary. A while back, I wrote a blog post about musicals that are much darker than most people think. Now we're having debates about problematic content in older musicals, and whether or not some older shows should be largely retired. Sometimes people tell me -- apologetically, but not really --that they don't really like "the new musicals." They like Rodgers & Hammerstein because they "just want escape." You know, like the "escape" of World War II in the Pacific, or the "escape" of watching the King of Siam lose his culture and then his life, or the "escape" of watching Jud Fry buy pornography from Ali Hakim, then try to murder Curly and Laurie, then die in a knife fight... Escape is awesome. Some people (usually white straight men) are enraged that anybody would suggest that Annie Get Your Gun should be retired for good. But it should. Times change. We are no longer the people, the culture, or the country we were in the early and mid 20th century. A great many of the shows written before 1960 (and some since then) are no longer relevant, and many of them are embarrassing or full-out offensive.

Here are some examples...

My Fair Lady -- This is a story about a narcissistic misogynist who keeps a young woman hostage in his home, using psychological torture, including sleep deprivation, to break her will and brainwash her, in order to make her socially acceptable and marriage-able to other men. Although, to be fair, the original poster laid out the show's sexism pretty clearly. At the end of the show, we debate whether the ambiguous ending means Eliza loves Henry or not. Let's hope not, for her sake! Why the fuck did she come back...? Sure, you could argue this is a near-masterpiece in many ways, and like some of Shakespeare's plays, it should be kept in the canon even though it's problematic. But you can't call Annie Get Your Gun anything remotely like a masterpiece. Annie Get Your Gun -- Like My Fair Lady, this show is about the subjugation of strong women by insecure men. Ultimately, Annie can only win Frank's heart by letting him win fraudulently, so his tiny male ego isn't hurt. WTF? And what's with that toxic song, "The Girl That I Marry"?

The girl that I marry will have to be As soft and as pink as a nursery. The girl I call my own Will wear satins and laces and smell of cologne. Her nails will be polished and, in her hair She'll wear a gardenia, and I'll be there; 'Stead of flittin', I'll be sittin' Next to her and she'll purr like a kitten. A doll I can carry, the girl that I marry must be.

Seriously, "a doll I can carry"...??? She is literally an object to him, a toy. This is twelve years after Reno Sweeney had told us that "times have changed." Carousel -- This is a show about a serial womanizer and abuser, and petty repeat offender, who dies in the commission of a violent crime and leaves behind a wife with PTSD and a fucked-up daughter who tries to find validation in the arms of other men. Of course, these days, this is most infamous for this exchange between Billy's widow Julie and her daughter Louise:

Louise: I didn't make it up, Mother! There was a strange man here and he hit me -- hard -- I heard the sound of it -- but it didn't hurt, Mother! It didn't hurt at all -- it was jest as if he -- kissed my hand! Julie: Go into the house child. Louise: But is it possible, Mother, fer someone to hit you hard like that -- real loud and hard -- and not hurt at all. Julie: It is possible, dear, fer someone to hit you -- hit you hard -- and not hurt at all.

Anybody want their daughter to see that scene...?

Kiss Me, Kate -- Another show about the subjugation of strong women by insecure men. This story is literally about the "taming" of a woman. Animals are tamed, not people. The only way to make it work is by subverting the text, by suggesting through the staging, line delivery, etc., that Kate is "in on the joke." But even if you change the ending that way, it doesn't erase the abuse he has subjected her to, throughout the rest of the show. She's going to be happy with this guy? No. Guys and Dolls -- Yet another show about the subjugation of strong women by insecure men. Adelaide is in a psychologically abusive relationship with Nathan. They've been engaged for fourteen years, in a time and place when women had to get married. There's no way he actually loves her. And Sky gives Sarah the 1950s equivalent of a date-rape drug. And notice in the song "Marry the Man Today," we discover Adelaide and Sarah don't really like a whole lot about their men. So why would they marry them? And Republicans want to return to the 1950s. No, No, Nanette -- Yet another show about the subjugation of strong women by insecure men. Surprisingly for 1925, one of the central plot lines is about how Nanette cannot enjoy independence without money, and all the money is controlled by men. It's an unusually honest and truthful comedy for 1925, though Nanette can't live Happily Ever After till she gets her man. Yawn. Camelot -- Not only is this another story of the subjugation of strong women by insecure men, but here, the woman's punishment is literally burning at the stake. She is to be killed for the crime of being sexually active and choosing for herself who she loves. The irony gets even uglier when you consider how much the serially adulterous JFK loved this show. And let's not forget that Guenevere is a truly fucked-up young woman who has been taught to be attracted to (and aroused by?) violence. The Sound of Music -- Here's one about a damaged young woman who falls for an angry, abusive, distant daddy figure, who has raised some monster children. Aw, isn't that sweet? What's that rule about workplace romances? Yeah, but the Alps are so pretty! Maria is never allowed to decide her own fate -- everybody tells us what to do, and then she does. And how about the treatment of the Baroness -- how did Georg's legitimate fiancee become the villain here...? It's not exactly the old "virgin vs. whore" scenario, but it's close...

Once Upon a Mattress -- This is a comedy entirely about how women have to be twice as good as men to get the same job. In the late 1950s! Tell Me on a Sunday (Act I of Song and Dance) -- This is a great show in a lot of ways, but it's about a woman who has learned to define herself only in terms of the men in her life. Yikes! We produced the show with New Line because as weak and fucked-up as this woman is, we did see a lot of truth in her, and ultimately, we think she will take control of her own life... Beauty and the Beast -- Sorry about this, Michelle, but this is a story about a young woman with Stockholm Syndrome, imprisoned by an insecure man... er, monster. It's creepy in a similar way to My Fair Lady. Why do we accept these stories? Why do women find them romantic? Miss Saigon -- Kim is a depressing, weak, Asian stereotype, who literally cannot talk about anything other than love, and who is helpless unless the White Savior can rescue her. But the White Savior has a White Wife, so the Asian woman is fucked. The Robber Bridegroom -- The story's hero Jamie Lockhart tells us repeatedly (most explicitly in the Act I finale) that he doesn't enjoy sex if it's consensual. Think about that. He only likes sex if it's rape.

I never was a courtin' kind of boy; Them flirtin' games ain't nothin' I enjoy. I hate a girl to give me goo-goo eyes; If she'd turn her back, I'd sneak attack, And get 'er by surprise! ‘Cause I like Love stolen from the cookie jar! I like love stolen on the sly! Oh yeah! I just love snitchin' what ain't meant for me; Oh the more forbid, The sweeter tastes the pie! A lot of girls are willin' to be had; The more I see, the more it makes me mad. You grab ‘em good; it doesn't faze 'em none. Well, that may be cool by the modern rule, But they're killin' all the fun!

You know, the "fun" of raping someone. How can anyone produce this show anymore? We did it in 2004, long before the #MeToo movement, and it was a difficult show even then -- which is the point. I'm told a recent local production essentially removed the rape from the story by making it all more playful and making Rosamund more obviously eager and compliant. That's fine I guess, but then it's a different show making a different point (if any) about different things. It's no longer about the intersection of violence and sex in American culture and in our American DNA. Yes, it's in our DNA. We can never forget that mid-century America was fine with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, a freakish MGM romanticizing of abduction and rape; and also The Fantasticks, in which abduction and rape are ironic comic devices. So what do we do with this show? It's awfully hard to make a case right now for a comedy about rape. Women characters in many musicals are weak. That's partly because companies still produce a lot of really old musicals when our culture not only accepted that, but expected it. It's also because until the last decade or two, there were virtually no women writing musicals. And since lots of musicals center on a love story, it was almost always a love story from the male (fantasy?) point of view. When there were strong women characters, they were generally the secondary "comic" lead. Because after all, you can't take a strong woman seriously!

There were exceptions (almost always written by gay men) like Dolly Levi and Mame Dennis, but even they needed men before they could end their stories happily. Most disturbingly, since it opened in 1966, Mame is about a nonconformist who is repeatedly forced to conform. It's not an accident that a year later, the American theatre answered with Hair -- which admittedly, is awfully sexist in its own ways.

What's my point with all this? My point is not that we should abandon all the old shows. But I do believe we need to think more critically about work we're really familiar with. It took me a long time to realize what a dirtbag Harold Hill is, because I grew up watching him in one of my favorite movie musicals. It never occurred to me as a child to question any of it. And really, that's the genius of The Music Man, that Harold cons us (the audience) as successfully as he cons the River City-zians. We can be eassily seduced by our favorite musicals, by great songs, etc., and we have to be careful about that. In other words, just think about it. More than we have been. Long Live the Musical! Scott from The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre http://newlinetheatre.blogspot.com/2018/11/as-soft-and-as-pink-as-nursery-13.html

0 notes

writingwithcolor · 5 years

Text

Find your next diverse read! (WWC Reader Publications)

We asked you to tell us about your publications to have it featured on our page, so here we are! These are the ten (10) books submitted to us written by Writing With Color readers. Thank you for sharing your lovely diverse works. Folks who missed out on this shout-out or haven’t had their works released just yet, look out for more submit requests in the future!

Book Titles

The Apprentice Sorceress

Change of Address

Eight Secret Nights

Firebreed

Illusive: Need vs Want

Inspired

The Language of Flowers

Rescues and the Rhyssa

The Sleeping Seer

The Unlikely Tale of the Royal Elite Squad

Book Descriptions

Title: The Apprentice Sorceress

Author: E.D. Walker | @beth-a-saurus

Series: Yes. Stand-alone Series.

Buy: Amazon | Goodreads

Premise: A lady would never practice magic…until now. Using magic could destroy her reputation, but denying her powers could get her killed.

Themes/Elements: Orphans, nobility, fake relationship, a ball

Main Character (MC) Race/Ethnicity: Mixed Race - Black and White

Other Diversity: Trans boy love interest

Title: Change of Address

Author: Jordan Brock | @anauthorandherservicedog

Series: No

Buy: Goodreads | Amazon

Premise: Disabled veteran Michael Baldwin retreats to his family’s vacation home with his service dog, Kaylee, intending to rebuild his life without giving in to his father’s political ambitions. On his first day there, he discovers the local bagel shop – and proprietor Josh Goldberg. Letting someone in is a tall order for two men who can’t trust themselves, but if they have any hope of a future together, that’s exactly what they’ll need to do.

Themes/Elements: Romance

MC Background: Michael (white), Josh (white, Jewish, adopted, ownvoices)

Other Diversity: Queer (gay, bisexual), Jewish family (ownvoices), mental illness (PTSD, anxiety, service dog, ownvoices; also aphasia and dyslexia), physical disability (traumatic brain injury), weight (fat character, insecurity but no fat-shaming, ownvoices)

Title: Eight Secret Nights (short story)

Author: Shoshana David | @rosefyrefyre

Series: No

Buy: Books 2 Read

Premise: Someone’s been leaving Hanukkah presents on Mara’s doorstep. Sweet presents – thoughtful presents. Hopefully her secret admirer is the cute guy who moved in next door and not the creep from 7A.

Themes/Elements: Romance, Secret Admirer, Hanukkah

MC Background: Jewish, White

Title: Firebreed

Author: Aviendha Rounds | @lady-of-the-summer-court

Series: Yes

Buy: Amazon

Premise: The twins Amber and Ember find themselves thrust into a world on the brink of civil war.

Themes/Elements: Young adult, War, coming of age, super rad sword fights, fantasy and sci fi

MC Race: Filipino

Other Characters: Japanese, African American, Mexican

Other Diversity: LGBT characters, mental illness

Title: Illusive: Need vs Want (Novella)

Author: By Celeste-Marie Lyon @celeste-marie-lyon

Series: Book 1 in The Illusive Series (Book 2 is available also)

Buy: Amazon | Nook | Smashwords

Premise: Alyssa was on a well-deserved vacation when she met the lead singer of Djed. The two hit it off immediately but is there more to their attraction? Will Alyssa let down her guard and give Marcu a chance? There may be something stronger than chemistry drawing them together.

Themes/Elements: Romance, Erotica

MC Race: Black

R/E Others: White/Sicilian, Asian

Title: Inspired

Author: Danielle E. Shipley | @outlawsofavalon

Series: Yes; 2 novels, 1 flash fic, and 1 journal published, so far.

Buy: Amazon

Premise: An author’s sudden death means her characters need to find a replacement writer to be their home and tell their stories. 16-year-old Annabelle could be just what they’re looking for. …if she can put in the work to one exacting muse’s satisfaction.

Themes/Elements: The art of writing; imaginary friends; multiple planes of realty; stories within stories

MC Race: Annabelle = African American

Other Characters: Apart from Annabelle and her family, no human* races/ethnicities are specified (*fantastic races like light elemental and cat god, though present and hella awesome, don’t count)

Other Diversity: Both Annabelle and character Uri identify as asexual

Title: The Language of Flowers

Author: Christina Rose Andrews | @christinaroseandrews

Series: No

Buy: Books2Read

Premise: Afghanistan vet and new teacher, Cole Visser, never expected to find himself teaching at his old high school. Which is why when he runs into his old college girlfriend, Zara, and her cute-as-a-button daughter, Angelica, Cole’s life turns on its head. How is he going to reconcile his feelings for the one who got away while trying to build a relationship with his newly discovered daughter?

Themes/Elements: Romance, Second Chance Romance, Teachers

MC Race: White

Other Characters: Hispanic/White Bi-racial.

Other Diversity: LGBTQIA+, disability, mental illness, etc.) Main character is an amputee with PTSD, Love Interest has Depression

Title: Rescues and the Rhyssa

Author: TS Porter | @ts-porter

Series: No

Buy: Goodreads

Premise: Cadan is the king of Nidum star system’s favorite weapon, and his beloved cousin. Her sometimes-lover and main annoyance Sophi captains a smuggler ship. When the king’s children are kidnapped, Cadan knows only Sophi has the skills to help her get them back before full war breaks out.

Themes/Elements: Lesbians IN SPACE, aliens, antagonistic relationship to romance, family both found and blood, love in many permutations

MC Race: Black

Other Races: Chinese diaspora

Other Diversity: Lesbians, Trans characters, Disabled characters, Nonbinary characters, Muslim characters, Polyamorous characters

Title: The Sleeping Seer

Author: Morgan Blue Malory | @morganbluemalory

Series: Yes

Buy: Amazon

Premise: Siblings Luke and Ellie Kakiro are the last surviving members of an ancient line of seers. Armed only with their late mother’s journal to teach them control over a perilous and oftentimes forbidden gift, the two become the target of complex hidden societies and forces not entirely human. Entangled with Lilith, a complicated woman trapped in the modern world and on the run from the same enemies, and aided by Viper Insane, an all-women street-racing gang, the Kakiro siblings journey across the country—and sometimes between worlds—in search of the secrets behind their mother’s research.

Themes/Elements: modern fantasy, magic & tarot, family, the first generation experience, mental illness worsened/complicated by magic, moral dilemmas, society, girl gangs

MC Race: Mixed - Puerto Rican, White, and Middle Eastern/North African Diaspora

Other Characters: Colombian, Mixed - White, Middle Eastern/North African Diaspora

Other Diversity: Bisexual main character, LGBTQIA+ major secondary characters; mentally ill main character & major secondary character

Title: The Unlikely Tale of the Royal Elite Squad

Author: D.A. Alston | @da-alston

Series: Yes

Buy: Amazon | Character Artwork

Premise: It’s a coming of age tale about 4 young and very different girls who get paired together for a science fair project. Something goes wrong and they end up blowing up their school. The series follows them afterwards as they try to pick up the pieces of their lives, manage new friendships, juggle school, maneuver through family drama all while discovering new abilities.

Themes/Elements: Superhero, Friendship, Diversity, Life skills

MC Race: Cuban/Puerto Rican , African American , Caucasian , and Pakistani

Other Characters: Creole

Other Diversity: Muslim, Plus size

If you enjoy any of these books, let us know here so the author can see! Also please leave a review on goodreads, amazon, etc.

WWC Reader Publications - Spring 2019

#wwc #wwc post #writing with color #books #Book Recommendations #yall are great #thanks for participating #diversity #ownvoices #diverse books #authors #authors of color #jewish authors

1K notes · View notes